Date night with your hubby

Uh-huh. That's what date night is supposed to be like. In reality, it's more like this:

"Do you know what little Johnny did today? I swear, that kid will drive me bonkers. He stuffed the cat in the laundry basket and now our clothes are all ripped up!" "You think you had a bad day. Try my day at work! My supervisor from hell is on everybody's back about quotas, and here I am putting in unpaid overtime and still getting barked at." "It's so unfair!" "Yeah, and talk about unfair -- did you see the gas prices..."

You would never, ever, talk like that on a real date in the beginning of your courtship. You know you wouldn't! So why are you doing that now?

Because it's hard to get away from the nitty gritty aspects of life, especially when you share that life with your beloved other. But get away you must, if you're truly to remember the love -- which is the entire purpose of date night.

How do you do that? Check out these three tips for putting the spark back in date night:

1. For starters, refuse to talk about the mundane aspects of your day-to-day life. Treat your mate like a date! Pretend you don't know your spouse. Get caught up in his smile, in his eyes, the way he laughs, how he tweaks his nose, etc.
2. Save up some conversational tidbits to share on your date night such as things you've been dreaming about or something you read or saw online that intrigued you. A memory that brought back fond thoughts of your childhood or a trip you took together work well too.
3. Resist the "dinner and a movie" syndrome. Get creative! Go to an aquarium, take a walk through a botanical garden, go to an art gallery or go bowling. In other words, do something together that allows you to see aspects of your spouse that you don't ordinarily experience. Give yourselves something new and different to talk about.

Let date night be what it's supposed to be -- a time to get close, to share warmth, laughter, love and affection. Oh, what a good time it will be!

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